Dr.
Stuart Siegel
Championing Children's Charities Dr.
Stuart Siegel made an indomitable decision early in his career. Having a heart for
children provided the impetus for his specialization in pediatric
medicine. The fatality rates of children diagnosed with cancer in
the 1960's disturbed Dr. Siegel and he was determined to improve the
prognosis. His compassionate concern for the welfare of children extended
to their families and the struggles involved with caring for sick
sons and daughters.

Pragmatic
details of his patient's lives are a genuine concern for Dr. Siegel.
His questions: How do the children's families get them to the hospital
for treatment? Where do they stay while their children are being cared
for? Do they have emotional support and contact with the families of
other young patients?

This
"big picture" view of the physician-patient relationship explains Dr.
Siegel's involvement in the first Los Angeles area Ronald McDonald House
at the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. He has been President of the
Board of Directors of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California
and its predecessor, Southern California Cancer Services, Inc. since
1978.

Dr.
Siegel plays a pivotal role in overseeing four Ronald McDonald Houses
in the Los Angeles area. He is also an integral part of Camp Ronald
McDonald for Good Times. Additionally, Dr. Siegel is part of a Community
Grant Program for children's causes throughout Los Angeles and surrounding
areas. These groundbreaking charitable organizations provide physical,
emotional and financial support to children fighting illnesses like
cancer and their extended families.

Heartfelt
decisions may drive Dr. Siegel's passion for pediatric medicine, but
his reputation for conducting research, providing education and publishing
in important medical journals are linked directly to his estimable intellect.
Dr. Siegel does not differentiate between his heart and his head. He
leads with both.

The accomplishments
of Dr. Siegel are too numerous to catalogue in this brief introduction.
Following is an attempt to hit some highlights of his particularly distinguished
career. Dr. Siegel serves as the founding director of the Childrens
Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.
His research in the areas of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lymphoblastic leukemia,
neuroblastoma, new agent trials and supportive care of pediatric cancer
patients are recognized on an international level.

Honors
and awards have been bestowed on Dr. Siegel by the Concern Foundation,
the San Gabriel Valley Unit of the American Cancer Society, the Israel
Cancer Research Fund, Boston University's School of Medicine, and the
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. His
involvement with the Ronald McDonald House Charities in California and
around the globe have spanned nearly three decades. He's also served
as the chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of the National
Childhood Cancer Foundation for the past two years.

Dr.
Siegel, Ronald and others at Ribbon Cutting Cermony

Annie Van
Bebber, Founder and Editor In Chief of Fundraisers.Com, has a long history
of altruistic involvement with Dr. Siegel. In fact, she refers to him
simply as, "my dear friend, Stuart." Her many opportunities to observe
Dr. Siegel firsthand led to this installment of "People Behind the Cause."

After
her father's death from leukemia in 1972, Van Bebber's grief became
the catalyst for her first philanthropic efforts. Her tireless efforts
on behalf of The Leukemia Society of America brought her into contact
with Dr. Siegel. Since then, she and Dr. Siegel have both participated
in a Radio-Thon for the National Leukemia Broadcast Council and
worked with the National Childhood Cancer Foundation,
, T.J. Martell Foundation and the Neil Bogart Memorial Laboratories at Childrens
Hospital of Los Angeles.

How
did you come to focus on children in your medical practice?

I realized
early in high school that I would like to work with children rather
than older adults . I was further influenced by one of the foremost pediatricians
in the world, Dr. Sidney Gellis. He was the Dean of the BU School of Medicine
at that time.

Tell
us about the buttons you pin on your trademark Doctor's coat?

I first
started to wear these around the time of the 1984 Olympics in LA,
but I never got involved in collecting them. My patients and friends,
here at the hospital, liked the pins so much they
started to give me more to wear. I added some from organizations
and institutions I was involved with throughout the world. The patients
really like them and it helps me
break the ice with them. They also really like it when I share some of the pins
with them or wear one they gave me.

When,
how and why did you become involved with the Ronald McDonald House?

I became
involved with the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in 1977 after talking
to two colleagues: Dr. Ed Baum who started the second RMH in Chicago
and Dr. Audrey Evans who started the first RMH in Philadelphia.
I brought together a group of community leaders that including representatives
of the LA Rams Football team (then in LA) and McDonald's to found
the organization that developed and built the Los Angeles House
in 1980.

We have
gone on to build three other houses in the Los Angeles region, founded
Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times and developed a community grants
program for children's causes. I have been President of this organization
since 1978 and have served on the Global Board of Ronald McDonald House
Charities since 1988.

What
led you to Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times and what has your experience
with campers been like?

I developed
the idea for a Camp for children with cancer in 1982 after we completed
and opened the Ronald McDonald House in Los Angeles. I had heard of
a similar camp in the Chicago area, again from Dr. Baum. I was an avid
camper as a child, primarily in the Boy Scouts of America. As a physician,
I care for children with life threatening illnesses. This shakes the
kids' confidence and threatens their self esteem. I felt that camp would
be a way to repair that damage and show them they could do the things
that other kids were able to do at camp. At the same time, the camp
experience breaks the isolation that many of them feel with such diseases.
Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times has done all of that and more!

Why
are children so important to cancer research?

Cancer
is still the number one disease
that results in the death of children
despite tremendous
improvements in survival over the past 50 years (10% survival to now
75% survival). The years of life lost due to cancer in children are
more than that for any specific cancer of adults. Furthermore, many
of the advances in the treatment of adult cancers and our understanding
about the very nature of the behavior of cancer cells came from research
with children. Childhood cancers are relatively rare when compared
to adult cancers, but they've provided crucial
research
information.

Do
you know people like Dr. Siegel?Every cause
should have an angel who has the vision and the persistence to help
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